CIA and FBI sent on museum course to 'refresh sense of inquiry'

CIA and FBI agents have been sent on a course at a New York museum to "refresh their sense of inquiry" by analysing paintings.

New York police officers and members of the US Secret Service have attended classes at the city's Metropolitan Museum of ArtPhoto: ALAMY

By Jon Swaine in New York

6:26PM BST 25 Oct 2010

They are among groups of law enforcement officials, also including New York police officers and members of the US Secret Service, who have attended classes at the city's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The course, titled The Art of Perception, is aimed at improving officers' ability to describe what they see in the course of their inquiries.

Amy Herman, the course leader, said: "We're getting them off the streets and out of the precincts, and it refreshes their sense of inquiry.

"They're thinking, 'Oh, how am I doing my job,' and it forces them to think about how they communicate, and how they see the world around them." Ms Herman, an art historian, originally developed the course for medical students, but successfully pitched it as a training course to the New York Police Academy.

Inspector Kenneth Mekeel, of the New York Police Department, said the course helped the city's officers with their usual line of work.

"We always teach them step back, look at what you have, the crime scene, make observations," he said. "There's more to a picture than meets the eye." Ms Herman said that law enforcement officers made "terrific" art critics.

"They're so smart, they're so observant, they do it every day," she said.

"Often, they see things that art historians don't always notice." Bill Reiner, an FBI special agent, said Ms Herman's classes had helped one of his officers crack a fraud scheme worth up to $100 million (£64 million)

"Amy taught us that to be successful, you have to think outside the box," Mr Reiner said. "Don't just look at a picture and see a picture. See what's happening."